Velocity
by oneiromancer242
Summary: Flashforward : A new Mutant arrives at the Xavier Academy. Recognising a kindred spirit, Peter agrees to Mentor her and help her to settle in. A little fluff, a little drama, a little Dadneto and a whole lot of fun ensues.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N : For you, MargotTenser!**

1

Most parents who came to enrol their offspring at the Xavier Academy stayed for the tour, a long chat with the Professor, usually a little conference with the teachers he thought were best placed to help their child with their own unique gifts. Expecting that, Charles had been surprised and saddened when he had seen a car screech into the driveway, come to rest in front of the Academy, and a little blonde girl be unceremoniously ejected from the front seat. A large rucksack followed her, landing in the dust, and the girl raised her hand to wave. Before she had managed to get out a goodbye, however, the car had taken off again in a plume of dust and a squeal of tyres, fishtailed out of the driveway and disappeared from view.

The girl stood for a moment. Then sat down on her backpack and buried her head in her hands. By the time Charles had got down to her, she had cried herself into hiccups and was almost dry-eyed again. Up close, he realised how young she was – perhaps nine or ten, no more – small and delicately built, with hair that looked like it had been cut at home with the aid of a pudding-basin and a pair of kitchen scissors. Face blotchy from crying, dressed in jeans and an overlarge khaki shirt that could only be hand-me-downs from older siblings, worn-out shoes on her feet, pulling at the sleeves of her shirt. It seemed that was a habit, judging by the holes and ragged cuffs. Charles took pity on her instantly, wheeling over to lay a hand gently on her shoulder.

"Are you Felicity Noonan?" he asked, kept his voice low. The girl hiccupped hard, nodded, went right back to a fresh spasm of noisy tears. He extracted a handkerchief and offered it to her, "I'm Professor Charles Xavier, welcome to my Academy. Would you like to come inside?"

Felicity said nothing for a moment. Raised her head a little to stare at the ground at her feet. Nodded again miserably. Clambered to her feet and bent to pick up the backpack that had been thrown out after her. It was almost as tall as she was, but she lifted it effortlessly and shrugged into the straps, looked up at Xavier at last and offered him back his sodden handkerchief. The poor child looked distraught.

"Keep it," he said, "Do you speak, Felicity?"

She glanced away again, took a breath, seemed to hesitate before finally –

"YesIdobutMommatellsmenottobecausenobodycanunderstandmebecauseItalktoofastsoshejustsayskeepquietFlicknobodywantstohearyournoise"

She said. Xavier blinked. Took a moment to process the sentence, mentally inserted some punctuation.

"And that Momma that… dropped you off here?"

"NothatwasmyoldestbrotherI'vegoteightandallofthemarenormalandMommasayswhydidshegetcursedwithakidlikemewhenallherothersarefineandthat'swhyI'mherepleasedtomeetyou" she swallowed hard, screwed up her hands into fists, and closed her eyes, before repeating "Pleeeeeeeaaaaaa-SED. Toooooooooo. MeeeeeeeeeT. YOU!"

She gasped for air. Xavier wanted to scoop her up in a hug on the spot, it had been such an effort for her to speak slowly that she looked a little sick, obviously finding that exhausting. Instead, he reached out and patted her kindly on the shoulder again

"Come inside, Felicity. We'll have a little talk in my study and get you properly enrolled" he said sympathetically, "and don't worry for now about speaking slowly for me – I'll fetch somebody who you can talk to, er, _normally_ "

He almost laughed as she had nodded and started to walk beside his chair. The girl took one step forward, then very carefully counted aloud _one, two, three, four, five…_ whilst pacing backward, then one more darting step forward. He assumed that was the only way she could keep pace with him. Poor girl, if he'd only known the situation, he would have made sure to be down in the driveway and dragged whoever had dumped the child here in by their mind to sit and tell him more. As it was, it seemed that he would have no other recourse but to make the girl at home, and fetch possibly the only one of his teaching pool who would not be given a headache by trying to communicate with her. Touching her mind was out of the question – with speech and gait like that, she simply had to be a speedster, and as such Xavier steered well clear of her mental processes, remembering the nosebleeds and migraines he'd had before. Sent out a quick message as they had made their way to the study for Raven to meet him there, pleased to see that she had clearly been close and was arranged gracefully in a chair when they arrived.

Felicity had zipped behind his chair the moment the door had opened. He could feel her shaking, puzzled for a moment before he had realised the problem. He was so used to Raven's natural form that he barely noticed the blue skin and scales, but to the unprepared, it was no doubt surprising.

"Isitamonster?" Felicity babbled, "Isitashemonster?"

"No, dear child – this is Raven Darkholme, one of our teachers. I was going to assign you to her as a Mentor, but I've changed my mind. Come out now, you're perfectly safe"

Reluctantly Felicity peeped out from behind the chair. Raven smiled as kindly as she could – which admittedly, still looked like a snake about to bite – and raised one hand in a wave.

"Hi Felicity" she tried, peeped around to catch a glimpse. The girl ducked behind the chair again, "It's okay, I'm not a monster. Just a Mutant like you"

Screwing up her courage, Felicity emerged. Looked as if she was struggling to balance on a tightrope as she approached a little closer, such was the agonising effort of walking at a normal pace. Xavier felt another pang of sorrow for her. She stood and regarded Raven.

"Whyaren'tyouwearinganyclothesIcanseeyourboobs"

The girl babbled. Raven frowned.

"Sorry, dear, I didn't catch a word of –"

"Raven, so sorry to trouble you" Charles cut in, before she could process the sentence, "But would you go and find Peter for me? I'd call myself, but…"

"Yeah you don't want your mind blown" she grinned, rose elegantly, "I'll go fetch him"

She left them in peace. Felicity sat and tapped her foot, almost wearing a hole in the carpet.


	2. Chapter 2

2

"So, what are your thoughts?" Xavier asked, settled back in his chair, watched Peter take a seat opposite him, get out one of his bands to fiddle with, "Can you help her?"

"I sure hope so, Prof. Kid's got a _lot_ of problems" Peter sighed, thought about how best to put this. He'd barely spent a half-hour with the girl, but in that time he'd more than once had to control his own emotions, listening to the story she told.

As soon as he'd picked her up from the study, he'd instantly seen that if Felicity was made to sit still any longer she'd probably end up doing something destructive and hazardous. Taken her down to the track around the estate and gone for a gentle jog with her whilst they talked. He had to reign in his own speed pretty hard for it – she was nowhere near as fast as him, though still able to go double the speed of sound for short distances. With training Peter felt sure she could ramp her top speed up to exceed his. She was nine years old, after all – with him turning forty in a few years, she should be able to beat him on the flat before long. For now though, she was way too much of a mess for any kind of focus. If anybody had heard them talking, all they would have heard was a sound like two angry wasps, both chattering far too fast for anyone to understand them. It was good, he had to admit, for someone to follow his train of thought at his own pace, but even so he knew how hard it was to live like that with nobody but a fellow speedster understanding you at all.

"From the manner of her arrival, I gather that home-life has not been so kind to her" Xavier said, "Did you speak about it?"

Peter paused, gathered his thoughts, knotted his fingers tightly together, leaning forward and meeting Xavier's eyes with his own.

"Do you remember what I was like, when I came here?" he said, "Or when you first met me, maybe?"

"Vividly. You were a total pain in the arse"

"Yeah, well take that, now take away the supportive family I had, the loving Mom, the two Mutant sisters, and add in eight older siblings who just thought I was crazy" he said, "That's pretty much what Flick's been through since she was six"

"That's awfully young for such a powerful mutation to arise"

"Pressure, dude. She's got eight brothers to stand up to and every one of them is a jerk of the highest order. Adapt and survive" a look of disgusted fury crossed his face that shocked Xavier – though he knew Peter was protective toward his young students, he'd never seen him look so angry over one of them, "Mommy Dearest drinks, that's why she didn't bring her. Dad tramped off with a younger model right after Flick came into the world. Kid's got nothing and nobody"

"Poor girl," Xavier said softly, Peter frowned, shook his head

"Don't pity her, dude," he said firmly, "Just keep her here. I'll work with her, do the best I can"

"Thank you, Peter" the Professor smiled, "And where is the young lady now?"

Peter got to his feet, gave Xavier a pitying look though he smiled back at him all the same

"Really?" he grinned, "You haven't learned from me at all, have you? Kid's down in the dining hall. She was starving. Little Roadrunners gotta eat, y'know"

Having given Felicity the tour himself – a task that took all of three minutes – Peter had helped her settle down in her own room and made sure she knew where he was if she needed anything. The little girl seemed so grateful to have someone who understood her that it was a wrench to even leave her. Despite being old enough to be her father, Peter had treated her as an equal, and she had been so happy with him that he'd almost suggested she sleep in with him and Angie, put a spare bed down for her so they were there when she needed them. Decided against it in the interests of starting to help her build independence, but left his door open a crack anyway.

She'd been up before him – a task nobody had yet accomplished – flitting around the corridor looking for her way downstairs and in a state of panic at being lost by the time Peter had emerged for his morning run. Felicity bowled into him hard enough to knock him off balance, just about catching a large, delicate vase before it fell and shattered and laughing kindly at her.

"Hey! Look where you're going, Flickster!" he chuckled at her, went to ruffle her hair and was surprised when she shrank away from his touch. "What's up, kid? Are you okay?"

From her position flattened against the opposite wall, Peter could see she was trembling, thankful that she hadn't yet learned to co-ordinate the vibrations of her body, or she would have had the pictures down off the wall. She looked terrified, hiding her face from him as if expecting a blow. Peter prickled again with anger.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, Flick" he said quietly, held a hand out to her, but didn't come any closer, "Have people done that? When you knocked stuff over?"

The girl nodded. Eyed his outstretched hand suspiciously. Didn't move.

"Who?" he asked. Hoped his anger didn't show in his voice, "What did they do?"

"Momma, and my brothers sometimes" she said in a tiny, shaking voice, "When I run into stuff or hurt people or can't keep still. They slap my legs. It hurts"

Peter bit down hard on the fury that rose up in him, nodded his understanding. Took a few deep breaths before he was able to smile at her again and beckon her.

"Nobody here will ever do that, kid, I promise. Nobody, and especially not me. Come here – I was going for a run, you wanna join me?"

"Would you mind?" she whispered, gazed up at him. Her eyes looked red, Peter suspected she hadn't slept very much at all. He grinned, shook his head.

"I'd love the company. C'mon little rocket, let's see what you can do"

What she could do turned out to be impressive. For a little girl of nine, she had incredible strength – Peter supposed that must come along with the speeding package, just to be able to generate the force needed – and he had been impressed by her stamina as they tore through the crisp morning air together. She'd tired first, however, hands resting on her knees and calling after him to come back, which he had done gladly. Escorted her back for breakfast and was introducing her to the delights of the Friday morning pastry trolley when Hank had entered, gave them both a friendly smile.

"Just the two I was looking for" he smiled, "Hello Miss Noonan, I'm Dr McCoy, you can call me Hank. When you've finished breakfast I'd like to take you for an examination, is that okay?"

Felicity looked again, petrified, until Peter had put a comforting arm around her shoulders, tipped her chin up with a finger to look at her.

"It's okay, he's real gentle" he told her, "I hate Doctors too, but Hank's nice"

"I need to take some baseline observations, so that I can track any future deviations and help you maintain the best possible health" Hank smiled. Felicity looked deeply confused. Peter shook his head and gave the doctor a look

"Dude, she's nine" he said, addressed the girl again, "He means he wants to see how you are now so that if you get sick, he'll know what to work towards"

"Thank you for translating" Hank said drily, "Will you be coming with?"

"I think I'd better – you'll need my translation services again"

"Why? Doesn't she –"

"Flickster, tell Dr McCoy what we've been doing this morning" he said, watched Hank's eyes widen and his jaw drop as the girl said

"WewentforarunandIalmostkeptupwithPeterbutthenIgottiredsowecamebackandIhadadanishwithjellyandIlikePeterhe'sreallynicehedidn'tevenshoutatmewhenIranintohimearlier"

Peter raised an eyebrow at the doctor, held out a hand in a gesture of 'see what I mean?' and grinned

"So what'll it be, Beast-man? A bad headache, or the Quicksilver Interpreting Service?"

"I think…." Hank said eventually, shaking his head to clear it, "You'd better come along."


	3. Chapter 3

3

To Hank's immense surprise, Felicity had been as good as gold throughout the detailed examination, co-operative and pleasant and as unlike Peter's impatient style as possible. When he was done, Peter had leaned down and told her

"Go see the Professor for a while, you remember the way to the study right?" she nodded, and Peter grinned at her lovingly, "Atta girl, I'll pick you up from there. I have to talk to Hank"

When she had gone, a little streak of lightning that made Peter smile all the more fondly, he had turned back to the doctor, a serious expression coming over his face.

"Is she alright?" he asked anxiously, "Healthy, I mean?"

"Perfectly so," Hank assured him, "I take it you're concerned that she may experience some of the symptoms you did when you were younger? There's no danger of that, she's fully mutated now as far as I can tell – unless any further gifts will manifest, which of course I can't tell"

"So she won't get the pains like I did? Or the crazy tiredness, or need to eat more than she can hold, like me?"

"There's no reason at all that she should, Peter, don't worry" the doctor smiled comfortingly at him, "Her bones aren't quite as light as yours, but they seem to be developing their structure naturally rather than changing after full growth as yours did, and she seems to be fully adapted to efficient metabolic processes. I'm astonished, frankly – perfect little speedsters like her don't show up every day"

Peter grinned, relieved. Though he hardly knew her, the little girl had touched his heart already. Little balls of energy like her always did, and the idea of having a fellow mutant with a speed gift to train excited him.

"I'm glad, thanks dude" he said, "So I can start training her?"

"I'd start with helping sharpen her focus, but yes – you can start. Good luck, I doubt anybody but you could handle her"

"Nobody could handle me either, and *I* turned out just fine" he winked, made to leave, "Well, mostly"

Collecting Felicity, he'd had a quick whip around the kitchen, returning with an armful of snacks and getting settled with her in a quiet nook of the common room on two large, comfortable beanbags, wiggling into them and getting thoroughly settled before she'd looked askance at him, confused.

"I thought we were starting training?" she said. Peter grinned, popped open a bag of Doritos and offered it to her

"We are, Grasshopper" he smiled, "Most important part of training, you gotta learn to focus"

"Are you going to make me stand on one leg and recite poetry and fight you blindfold and stuff?"

"Not yet – first, you're going to face a much harder challenge than that. You're gonna sit here with me, for fifteen minutes, and talk with me. That's all"

"That's ALL?" she exclaimed, "Fifteen minutes is FOREVER!"

"No, fifteen minutes is a minimum" he told her sternly, "Believe me, I know – it'll feel like an ice age, but you'll do it. We'll keep on building up, and you'll get better at it. This might not seem important but once you get used to it, you'll realise it's done you good"

Felicity sighed heavily, spied a pack of M&Ms amongst the pile and claimed it for herself, tossed a handful down before asking

"What do you want me to talk about?"

"I dunno kid – anything. We can talk about you, if you want to?"

"OK…" she took a deep breath, "ask me a question then. Anything, as long as it's not gross"

Wondering what would constitute gross to a girl her age, concluding that it probably involved 'kissing boys', 'talking to boys' and 'boys', he thought a moment. Polished off the Doritos, dusted the orange powder from his hands.

"So you've got eight brothers?" he asked, "What're they're names?"

"Mark, Oscar, Joseph, John, Daryl, Luke, Matthew and Michael – they're twins"

"Cool, I'm a twin too" he said, watched her fidget but didn't say anything about it, "I have a twin sister, and a younger sister. Wanda and Lorna. Both Mutants like me. You're the only one in your family?"

"Uh-huh. Momma says she must have been cursed" she replied sadly, "I hope she wasn't. She's not nice, but I wouldn't like it if she was cursed"

"Well thankfully there's no such thing as curses, and round here, we call it a gift" he told her, "You want these Mike and Ikes?"

She took them gratefully, unused to someone sharing their candy with her. Her brothers usually just kept what was theirs to themselves, especially the older ones.

"Are your sisters nice?"

"They're great. Stick around and you'll meet them – and my Dad too, we get the Mutant gene from him. He's nice too, but kinda scary sometimes"

He watched her finish the pack of candy with an odd vicarious pleasure. It was good to be around someone whose appetite for trash food matched his own, for a change. Rooted out a second pack of the same and tossed it over to her. She was doing well, seemed to be settling down a little as the conversation progressed, giving him a shy look and asking

"Do you have any kids?"

Peter spluttered, almost choked on a Red Vine

"No! I mean… not yet, anyway…. Jeez that's a weird question, kid"

"Not really" she shrugged, "I mean, you're old and you're married, right?"

"I am not old!" he protested, saw her dubious look, "OK, so I'm getting kinda old. And how'd you know I was married?"

The girl grinned and reached over to take his hand, tapped the two plain bands on his third finger. Observant, he thought, a good start.

"What's your wife like?" she asked, "Is she as nice as you?"

"You've met her, kid. Spark? I guess she's nice, I prefer to say awesome though"

"I don't think I'll ever get married" Felicity proclaimed, "Ever"

"You're nine, little rocket, nobody's gonna marry you for a good few years, and you might change your mind"

"I won't" she said airily, "Is that fifteen minutes yet?"

Peter looked at his watched, grinned delightedly

"Nope. It's twenty-one" he said proudly, "Well done, Flickster – you wanna go run off some energy?"

She nodded, helped him pick up all the empty wrappers, took hold of his hand again just as he was about to rise and gave him a serious, searching look.

"Thanks" she said quietly

"For what?"

"For not asking me more about home" she dropped her eyes, "I – I don't really want to talk about it yet. But I will do. I guess nobody ever listened before"

Peter covered her hand with his, smiled at her a little sadly.

"I'll listen whenever you need me to, Flickster. I'm glad you're here now – things will get better"

"They already did" she smiled. Unexpectedly threw her arms around his neck for a hug. Peter's heart squeezed, realising she was letting him hold her without pulling away.

"You wanna see something cool?" he murmured into her ear, felt her nod, "We have the best assault course ever"

Felicity allowed him to lead her by the hand the whole way there.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N : Long time between updates can be entirely blamed on me having just got back from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, so excuse the delay, been having too much fun clearly! Thanks to reader and reviewer anonymouscsifan for the inspiration behind this chapter, and to all readers and reviewers as always.**

4

Practicing her breathing exercises in the studio, Felicity did her utmost to concentrate. Over the three months that she had been in residence at the Academy she had already made unbelievable progress. Meditating with the Professor four times a week, practicing alone every day, spending hours at a time training with Peter in T'ai Chi, which she had at first found frustrating but now had grown to like, concentrating on the feeling of energy flowing under her control through her body, the strength and precision of the movements. Waiting for Peter to arrive, she had settled down into a Full Lotus and was attempting the tricky alternate-nostril breathing technique the Professor had taught her, springing to her feet as she heard someone push open the studio door.

Her smile fell a little, however, when she saw Raven standing there rather than her Mentor. She'd gotten a little used to the blue woman by now, but she couldn't say they were particularly friendly. Raven could be cold, seeming uncaring and distant at times, though she warmed up if you spent enough time with her. Felicity supposed she had been used to being discriminated against and still felt a little untrusting at first, even with her fellow Mutants. Raven padded softly across the sprung floor to her, gave her a small smile.

"Miss Darkholme! HaveIgotthetime….." She stopped, bit her lip and closed her eyes. Found her focus and tried again. "Have I got the time wrong for my class? Are you using the room now?"

"No, Felicity – and please, it's just Raven. Peter sent me in his place today. I hope you don't mind? I'm proficient in Yang Style, I can continue with you"

"Oh…" Felicity looked and sounded disappointed, "Why isn't Peter coming? Is he sick?"

"Thankfully, no – he's away from the Academy for the morning. It's just this once, I promise" Raven said, trying to sound reassuring, "If it would help, I can look like Peter for you?"

Her skin rippled and spiked, became difficult to look at. When it settled, Peter was standing there in her stead, perfectly replicated. Felicity swallowed hard, held tight to her nerve. She'd never seen Raven do that up close before now. Raven-Peter smiled, her Mentor's charmingly lopsided grin to a tee, and said

"Will this be easier for you, Felicity?"

It was Peter's voice exactly, right down to his gentle intonation and accent. The girl shook her head harder than she'd intended to, took a couple of steps back

"Can you just be you?" she asked, wide-eyed, "That's a little creepy. Also Peter never uses my full name"

Raven spiked and rippled again, put her own appearance back on, shrugged

"Suit yourself. Shall we begin?"

Raven wasn't all that pleased that Peter had forgotten to tell Felicity that she'd have a substitute teacher for the morning. It was unlike him, and he wondered if the scatty girl had simply not listened, or if he genuinely hadn't said. Put her irritation to the back of her mind as she put Felicity through her Form, corrected her little postural errors, encouraged her as gently as she could manage.

Just at the moment Felicity had been settling into her class, Peter had been coming to a halt in a dilapidated-looking residential street. Parked up, wondered if he should have driven after all, or should park the car somewhere else, but he hadn't wanted to announce his gift too clearly just yet. Checked the address he'd got from Xavier's files one last time, and made a displeased face as he got out to knock on the door of a particularly scummy dwelling. He hadn't waited long before the door was pulled open by a tall, scrawny man with a nose that looked like it had been broken a few times and not reset properly. He regarded Peter through narrowed eyes

"Whatcha want?" he demanded, "You sellin' something?"

"No, I –"

"Bible-Thumper? One of them Jee-Hoovers Witnesses?"

"No, I'm not selling anything and I'm not a Missionary. I'm from Felicity's school – this *is* the Noonan household, isn't it?"

The scrawny man laughed. It sounded phlegmy and unpleasant, devolving into a cough

"Well don't you speak nice" he sneered, "They all like you, up at that big old house? Nice boys with pretty mouths?"

Peter shoved his hands into his pockets to hide the fists he could not help making. After minutes in his company, he was already growing to really dislike this man. He forced himself to smile pleasantly.

"May I come in, please?" he asked, "I'd like to have a word about Felicity. I won't take up much of your time"

"What's the lil' runt done now?" The man laughed again, "We ain't paying for breakages"

"She's doing very well, I assure you. I'd just like to talk to you. It's normal to speak to the parents and family of our students"

At last, the man stood aside, eyeballed Peter unpleasantly as he came in, made a point of wiping his feet, determined to be a model of politeness since he was there on Academy business. It was hard not to grimace at the dirty, run-down interior, the smell of cat urine pungent and sharp as he followed the man down a hallway lit with one bare bulb.

"Hey Mom?" the man yelled through a half-opened door through which Peter could hear a television, "Some long-hair from the Home for Freaks is here, wants to talk about Felicity"

Waved through dismissively, Peter fought down a gag as he went in. The smell of cat was even stronger in here, no surprise since he could already see four of the animals milling around. They looked healthy at least – he really would have lost his temper if he'd seen neglected animals on top of everything else. A black tom with piercingly yellow eyes twined itself around his legs, immediately began purring. Peter carefully stepped around the cat, came a little further into the room. Coughed and waved away a fog of acrid cigarette smoke.

In a sagging armchair, a woman in a housecoat with hair dyed a brassier shade of blonde than Felicity's sat with a glass in her hand, gazing in rapt attention at _The Days of Our Lives_ playing on the screen. Raised the glass to her lips and drank deeply, didn't look at him as she spoke

"Girl break somethin'?" she grunted, "She's your problem now, we won't pay for her damages"

"Yeah, that's already been made clear, don't worry" Peter fetched a fresh if slightly strained smile, held out a hand politely. The woman didn't move, "I'm Peter Maximoff, one of Felicity's teachers. I wanted to come see you – I don't think any of the faculty have been able to talk to you yet"

"Faculty" he repeated, scathing sarcasm in her voice, "Kid, whaddya want? I ain't got all day. Say your piece and get out of my hair"

Peter tried so hard it almost hurt to hold his temper. Could feel himself starting to grind his teeth. Finally couldn't bear her ignoring him any longer and zipped across to turn off the TV. Mrs Noonan immediately gave him her full attention

"Hey, what's the big idea?! I was - "

"Watching it, I know. You were also ignoring me. I'm here to talk about your daughter" he said, keeping his smile in place, "Doesn't that interest you?"

"Nope. Put my show back on" Mrs Noonan grunted. Peter took a deep breath. He would not hurt her, he didn't do things that way, but god he wished he did right now. The lump of woman only sat in her chair, took another drink. With a movement faster than she could perceive, he snatched the glass out of her hand, drank the contents and set it down on a table.

"Bathtub gin, great choice for a morning pick-me up" he grinned, watched her gape at him

"You're one a'them, arentcha?" she hissed, "A Freak, like Felicity"

"A Mutant, yeah. And I happen to share her gift. Super-speed can be a pain in the ass, Mrs N, but that's no cause to ignore your kid and dump her on a boarding school"

Mrs Noonan sneered at him, showing yellow teeth. Blew the smoke from her cigarette straight at him deliberately

"What's the runt been tellin' you?" she asked, "she always was a little liar. Kid deserves to be put across someone's knee"

"Yeah she told me about that" Peter said deceptively quietly, "Did you know that Child Services would be pretty interested to hear about the slaps she got?"

"Lies!" Mrs Noonan yelled, reached for the bottle. Before she moved an inch Peter had grabbed it and placed it beside the glass, out of her reach. Felt his temper starting to fray a little round the edges at the insolent, dumb fury of the woman

"The only liar around here is you" he hissed. Flashed across the room, leaning down with his hands planted over hers on the arms of the chair. Rightfully, she looked terrified. Let her, he thought – she wasn't to know he wouldn't hurt her "You want me to make that call, Mrs Noonan? You want me to tell someone how you treated that girl? How you bullied her and neglected her, and treated her like a demon when she's just more highly evolved than you? How about I do that, hmm?"

"You're a piece of work, aintcha?" Mrs Noonan growled at him, though her voice shook, "That what you're here for? To threaten me?"

"No." he said gently, moved to allow her free, out of her reach before she tried to swing for him, "I'm here to tell you how well your daughter's doing. She's a very bright kid, very kind, and she's gonna be a great woman some day. None of that is thanks to you or your rotten sons, that's all Flick's own work. *That's* why I'm here. So how does that feel?"

Mrs Noonan glared at him, but wisely said nothing.

"I'll be going now. Thank you for your time. But just you remember, for all you tried to keep that girl down she's already better than the lot of you together. Stay out of her life, sure that'll be no hassle for you. And if any of you ever try to harm her again –" he flashed over, very gently flicked the tip of her nose. She squeaked in shock – "You'll have me to answer to. And believe me, you think Flick's fast you ain't seen _nothing_ yet"

Mrs Noonan blinked, and when she opened her eyes again the boy was gone, already back behind the wheel of his car. Gripping the steering wheel hard in both shaking hands, breathing deeply, pushing down the resentment and anger. Steady enough to drive after a minute, he started the car, turned it not back to the Academy but to the much better part of town where his father now lived.


	5. Chapter 5

5

Having not been expecting visitors, Erik was pottering around the house in sweats and was surprised to hear his front doorbell. Glad that this door had a peephole, so that he didn't have to take the precaution of a weapon every time he opened it, he peered out to see his son standing on the doorstep carrying two large boxes from Krispy Kreme. He did *not* look happy. Quickly unlocking the door and welcoming him in, happy at an unexpected visit, but concerned at Peter's apparent mood.

"You want a doughnut?" he asked, went straight through to flop on the couch and open one of the boxes, "Say now if you do"

"And hello to you too, Peter. Good to see you, and no thank you"

"You sure? Last chance"

"I'm sure. I'll go and make us a drink shall I?"

By the time Erik had returned from fetching himself a coffee and Peter a can of Pepsi, both boxes were empty and his son looked slightly less like he wanted to punch something, laying comfortably back on the sofa. He half-smiled up at Erik, coming to take a seat beside him.

"Even you will make yourself sick doing that" he warned, "What's wrong? I take it you didn't just come over to have somewhere comfortable to stuff your face"

"I was in the area" Peter lied, "I wanted to see you – I've… well, I've not had a good morning. I figured you'd get it a little better than the folks back home"

His son had that distressed kicked-puppy look that he got when something had seriously ruffled his feathers, and Erik could not help but gently lay an arm around his shoulders, a little shocked when Peter had immediately flung both arms around him for a hug, clinging on tightly to him. Even at this age, his cuddlesome nature was no less prominent, and somehow it still surprised his father sometimes.

"What's happened, dear boy?" Erik asked, patted his back soothingly, "Perhaps I can help"

"I've got a new student," Peter mumbled into Erik's chest, "Another speedster. Her family are… not good people. I went to see them this morning and…"

He paused a long while, shook his head. Sat back out of his father's embrace and settled into the sofa, let his belt out a little and sighed heavily. He hated feeling angry, knowing it just wasn't him – he wasn't an angry sort of person, really. But just sometimes, something like this would make him feel like he wanted to set a tornado around someone until he pulled all the air out of their lungs or stripped off their skin, and he hated it.

"Is this what it's like for you, when you see someone mistreating Mutants?" he asked, "Like, you just get this overwhelming anger and need to do something about it? Need to help your kind, even if it means hurting someone?"

"At times," Erik told him mildly, "I do try to stay away from those actions that would harm others now, but yes. The anger can be powerful, when I see our kind treated wrongly. Have you done something"

"Not yet," Peter shook his head, "But I really want to. I was hoping you could help me do it through a different channel – I… I'd love to hurt those people, Dad. But that's not the right path. I've got to channel it somewhere else"

"Hence two dozen doughnuts?" Erik teased, Peter half-smiled at him again, shrugged

"I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't do drugs – what else am I gonna use to cope?"

Erik squeezed his shoulder, let him stay quiet for a few minutes. Drank his coffee, could see that Peter was starting to calm down, think more clearly, would be fine soon enough. He felt profoundly glad that he felt he could come to him, and trusted him not to immediately take the action that Peter himself would hold back from.

"What's happened to your student?" he asked, "How has she been mistreated?"

"She's the youngest of nine – all human except her – they're trash, and they treat her horribly. Used to hit her, tell her not to talk, that sort of thing. They don't care about her"

"And what did you want done about it?"

"Actually I kinda wanna pull their house down with them in it, but I'd settle for having them reported for the way they treated Flick – the new kid. She's great Dad, you'll love her. She didn't deserve the way she was treated"

Erik thought for a moment, reached for his address book from the coffee table, flipped through to find the number he was looking for

"Since she no longer lives at that house, Child Protection have no leverage sadly. But if you call this office –" he copied out a number neatly, handed it to Peter, "Then you can report the conditions she was living in, and get whatever financial aid they received for her cut off, they may even have to pay a sizeable quantity back. Humans don't like being hit in their pockets. Tell them I'm your father, they'll be most courteous to you"

Peter took the number, stuffed it into a pocket. It wasn't much, but at least it would hurt them, and it would have to do. He just couldn't let them get away without any consequences, even if he couldn't bring destruction down on their heads. Felt a little better knowing there was at least something.

"I was thinking of applying for legal guardianship of the kid" he said quietly, "Me and Angie – Flick's only nine, she kinda needs something approaching a parent in her life. D'you think that's something that we could manage?"

Erik chuckled kindly at him, thought suddenly what an adult thing that was for him to consider and sobered.

"Are you ready for that responsibility, Peter?" he asked, "it's not the same as adoption, but –"

"I've talked it over with the Professor. He thinks it's a great idea"

"Well…if you have Charles' blessing, I'm sure you must have shown yourself capable in his eyes. That's no easy task, but neither is guardianship. If you and Angela are prepared, then I think you will make splendid guardians for the young lady"

At last, Peter smiled fully. Leaned in and hugged his father again

"Thanks, Dadneto. Appreciate the faith in me. I'll need that Mutant lawyer you know – the one with the persuasion gift?"

"I'll call her tomorrow for you" Erik smiled, "Are you staying, or do you need to run off?"

"Not yet dude – if it's okay with you I thought I'd stay for a while, get some Dad time?"

"Some napping off doughnuts time is more like it, but you're very welcome, I'm free today as it happens. Stay as long as you wish"

Peter had stayed until he'd realised it was late afternoon, and that he really should get back to the Academy and teach his classes. Raven was excellent, but she wouldn't cover for him all day. Besides, he had phonecalls to make and a little speedster to go and hug, and suggest his plan to.


	6. Chapter 6

6

Flitting around the dining hall, swinging from light fittings and popping out from under tables, Kurt handed out the morning mail with his usual stylish flair. Certainly there might have been a more efficient way of everyone getting their letters and parcels, but Kurt enjoyed the task so much, and the others loved his unnecessary displays of acrobatic skill to brighten their mornings, so it continued despite the occasional accident. Neatly hopping down from a ledge to land beside Jubilee and hand her a little package which she tore into with glee, and scooting around the hall for a few minutes before he had returned to Jubilee.

"Look at these!" she grinned delightedly at Kurt, waved the contents of the package at him, "Aren't they just the cutest! I found them in a magazine, I HAD to have them!"

"They are very beautiful bracelets, yes"

"They're earrings" she deadpanned, held the gigantic pink hoops up to her ears, "See?"

"You must have very strong ears" Kurt remarked, eyed the jewellery admiringly, "Have you seen Felicity? I have a letter for her and she does not seem to be here"

"Oh, she'll be over at the gym already. Speedsters, huh? What can you do with 'em? Probably been up half the night, poor kid. Good thing she's got Peter"

"It is indeed fortunate for her" the elf smiled fondly, though truthfully he wondered if it wasn't more of a good thing that Peter had Felicity. He wasn't the jumpy, grouchy kid he'd once been, but he was certainly better off for having someone around who presented a real challenge to him. Nobody else in the Academy could ever hope to join him for even a gentle run, and he knew that Peter had sometimes wished he had a partner to train with who he didn't feel he had to slow down for. He had always got on so well with the little ones, even when he'd been a student himself supervising their gym classes and leading them with kindness and energy that had made him a popular and much-loved member of the school.

Rematerialising in the obstacle room, Kurt had learned long ago to make sure he came in right to one edge of the room. He had used to _bamf_ himself onto one of the rafters, but since Felicity had started training there, he'd soon realised that doing so would sometimes lead to him having to dodge for his life. Most of the other students using the course couldn't run up one wall and across the ceiling – a trick Felicity hadn't even thought of until Peter had suggested she tried it out. At that moment however, the girl wasn't running laps of the ceiling but slipping through alternating high and low bars like an eel, Peter standing eagerly by with an electronic timer. As she slipped out of the top and jumped down, he stopped the clock and offered her a high five and a huge grin

"Nice work, Flickster – beat your best time by a full three seconds!" he told her. Felicity jumped, punched the air. Catching sight of Kurt and jumping back, a little startled. Why were so many people around here _blue_?...

"Mornin', Fuzzball" Peter grinned at him, "Come to run a few obstacles? About time you started coming, you're getting a little saggy dude"

Kurt laughed good-humouredly. The banter between himself and Peter was exactly that, and under it all they still shared a fond camaraderie that had been forged over many missions together and much saving of one another's lives.

"I have a letter for Felicity" with his light accent, the 'F' always came out slightly sharp. Thanks to that, she'd started thinking about 'Velocity' as a codename, though she hadn't yet had the courage to ask Peter if he thought it would work for her. She zipped over, took the letter, ripped it open eagerly. Nobody ever sent her letters, and this just had to be what she had been waiting for. Scanning the paper inside, a huge grin making her eyes shine as she grabbed Kurt in a hug and kissed his cheek. The teleporter wondered if hugging was a speedster thing, or just a product of being around a cuddle-bug like Peter so much.

"Well?" Peter said nervously, beside her in a blink, "Is that it? What does it say? Did it go through?"

Felicity nodded, and Peter immediately grabbed her up and swung her around in a hug, laughed joyfully with her and set her down to rest his hands on her shoulders, gaze down at her with love radiating out of his eyes.

"It's official then?" she said, smiling back at him broadly, "Am I your ward now?"

"Mine and Angie's…. god Flick, I don't know what to say, I'm just so happy it went through ok!" he grabbed her in another hug, squeezing her tight, "Let's go tell Xavier, c'mon!"

"Good news, I presume?" Kurt grinned sharply, they had almost forgotten he was there in their joy, "What is it?"

"Peter's my guardian now!" Felicity told him, "I have a Dad – a real one!"

"And you have chosen an excellent one, if I might say so" he told her, winked and teleported himself out to give them a little space. The two of them had wasted no time, and Xavier had jumped out of his skin when not one but two sets of fists had started urgently hammering on the door of his study, pulling the door open to see what all the commotion was about and being overwhelmed by two speedsters so overexcited they forgot to speak normally, babbling in a rush until he had grabbed hold of them both and given them stern looks.

"Both of you calm down!" he said firmly, "Do you want something?"

Felicity simply offered him the letter, Peter bouncing on his heels behind her as the Professor read it over and looked up at them with a genuine, happy smile

"I'm very pleased for you both" he said, "This will be the start of a wonderful new life for you, Felicity, and I sincerely wish you all the best in it. Perhaps you'd better come in – if you're part of Peter's family now, there's someone you should really meet."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N : Sorry about the delay! you know when you get back from a break and have EVERYTHING to do? Yeah.. that. Final chapter of this one, thanks all readers and reviewers as always, you people rule. I'm still accepting prompts, and my Favourite OC poll will be closing tomorrow evening at around 1900 GMT, so if you haven't voted and want to it's on my profile. Thanks all, enjoy!**

7

Having contented herself with a shy little conversation with Erik over the phone, and arranged to meet him in person the following day, Felicity had been up most of the night in a half-joyful half-agonising fury of anticipation. Whilst she understood that a 'ward' was not the same thing as being adopted, and that Erik was not strictly her grandfather, she still couldn't wait to meet him at last – Peter had told her so much about him. Unbearably excited, she had finally cracked at 4AM and bounded into Peter's room to jump on him, barely awake and still cuddled under the blankets, sitting up with a shocked yelp as Felicity misaimed slightly and landed to knee him hard in the stomach. His surprise had quickly turned to delight however as he realised what had landed on him, grabbing the girl in a hug and tickling her

"What're you up to kiddo?" he grinned at her, "desperate to get going today, huh?"

Flick nodded, beamed at him, couldn't help bouncing a little on the bed with enthusiasm,

"Can we go running? I'm so excited about meeting your father, I couldn't sleep, I *have* to go run!"

"It's okay to go by yourself, you know – but yeah sure. You go wait for me in the front hall, I'll get dressed," he blew his hair out of his eyes, "and maybe try to calm down this mess on my head"

"Sure! I'll grab us a couple bars – you want the new ones or the originals?"

"They both taste like sh-…. Like garbage. Either. Go on now Flickster, I won't be long"

She let him hug her again, wondering how he'd managed to turn her from a girl who flinched away from touch into someone who accepted and gave physical affection so freely. Reached over and lightly patted the body huddled under the covers beside him.

"Good morning Angela" she said quietly, "Sorry if I woke you up"

The body hardly stirred, but a non-committal mutter came from under the duvet, a hand emerging to give her a lazy wave and a thumbs-up before it flopped back onto the pillow.

"Don't worry, she's used to me – she sleeps through most things" Peter slipped out of bed, gently ushered Felicity over to the door, "Two minutes, OK?"

By the time 7AM had rolled around, and Flick and Peter were happily installed for her gymnastics session, Angela had managed to drag herself out of bed, just in time to hear the whine of the Blackbird's engines as it came in to land. Still sipping her third coffee, slowly coming to, she watched it lower itself into the baseball court and the hydraulics engage to flip the court surface back down. She loved watching the 'Bird land – it really was a beautiful machine. No wonder Hank treated it like his baby. The Mark 3 was even better than the old one, which had limped home irreparably damaged after a particularly nasty skirmish in Sokovia two years ago. Heading down to the landing bay to meet the passengers and get everything prepared before at last she'd made her way over to the gym to collect the two speedsters.

She couldn't help but watch in wonder, seeing Peter standing aside whilst Flick practiced on the parallel bars, obvious pride evident in his face. Light and small like himself, with reflexes that even challenged his own, Flick had taken to gymnastics incredibly well, and it was helping her concentration no end – even if she knew that were she to miss a bar and fall, Peter would always be there to catch her. She made a beautiful dismount, accepted the praise her tutor lavished on her, caught sight of Angela and smiled shyly. It felt strange to call her that sometimes – but anything else seemed stranger. 'Mom' just didn't sit right – Flick had a Mom, even if she wasn't a good one – and 'Mrs Maximoff' felt weird and formal. Flick supposed she had to call her something – and 'Spark' didn't cut it either.

"You two ready for a second breakfast?" she asked. A little squeeze for Flick, a chaste kiss on her husband's cheek, "Your father's here, he's waiting down in the boardroom"

"Great! We'll – wait, the boardroom?" Peter gave her a puzzled frown, "Why there?"

"It's a nice private space for a breakfast with family" Angela said innocently. Peter didn't trust her innocent face, never had done – it always meant she was up to something, "C'mon, there's waffles"

Flick had pulled at Angela's hand like an eager puppy the entire way up, but had made every effort to stay with her and not dart ahead. When the door had opened though, it had been Peter who, after a beat of dumbstruck, frozen silence, had dashed into the boardroom unsure who to hug first. Decided on his mother, soon joined by Lorna and Wanda piling on for a group hug.

"You're.. all of you … how'dya… " he stammered, unable to get words out. Erik smiled kindly at him, accepted his own greeting-hug gladly.

"Hank flew us in – he owes me a few favours, and the 'Bird _is_ the fastest way to travel"

"Besides," Lorna added, "we've got a new child in the family – how could we not come?"

She gestured to the door, where Flick had edged herself behind Angela's legs and was peeping out nervously. Madga took the initiative, coming forward and bending down to offer her hand to the girl.

"Hello sweetheart," she said gently, motherly affection radiating out of her, "I'm Magda – Peter's mother. I'm so glad to meet you at last. This is Erik – Peter's father – and Wanda and Lorna, his sisters. Lorna is the one with green hair"

Flick peered up at her big, friendly dark eyes that were just like her son's. cracked a smile of her own, and at last got up the courage to come into the room. The moment she had laid eyes on Erik properly however, she had dashed over to him in a streak and stared in awe

"You're him!" she squealed, grinned from ear to ear, "the Mutant Rights guy! I saw you on TV! You're so awesome, the way you're not afraid of people"

Erik looked uncharacteristically embarrassed, gave her the softest smile he could manage, very politely leaned down and shook her hand.

"I am indeed," he told her, "But you must just call me Erik, Felicity. Welcome to the family"

"You didn't tell me your Dad was famous, Boss!" she chided Peter, who laughed at her and his father's slight blush.

"Looks like you've got a fan here, Dadneto" he grinned, led her over to meet Wanda "You're right though little rocket, he's wicked cool. Hey, you heard of the Avengers, right?"

Flick had fit right in, her shyness vanishing as Magda and Wanda uncovered steaming dishes of waffles, pancakes, and all sorts of delights and passed them round, the family soon falling into happy chatter as they always did. Somehow with Flick there, it felt like there was no tension between any of them, she was as energetic as Peter had ever been, soon comfortable enough to crawl under the table to take a seat between Lorna and Wanda, nattering away to the two girls who in turn made much of her, seeming to have adopted her as an extra sister within a half-hour. Sitting beside her son, Madga watched him sitting back just a little, observing his family getting along happily, Angela obviously sharing some conversation not fit for children's ears with Erik, judging by the way they leaned close together and smirked at one another. Reaching over and squeezing her son's hand kindly, drawing his attention.

"You've done a wonderful thing for that girl, Peter" she said quietly, "I'm very proud of you"

"Thanks," he said shyly, "We had to – it's just a legal thing though, she needs someone to help her make decisions, someone who'll take responsibility for her, and –"

"Nonsense, " Magda told him, "She needs a family. You gave her one"

"You like her?" Peter asked, watched his mother pull a serious, thoughtful face that soon cracked into a nod and a smile.

"I think we'll make a Maximoff of her yet, darling" she said.

Later, when everything had been demolished, the family had gathered on the terrace to relax a while, Peter and Flick darting off to play Frisbee. The rest of them watched fondly as the two streaks of blurred movement tried to outdo one another.

"She's remarkable," Erik said admiringly, "I wouldn't be surprised if she was faster than Peter before too long"

"Mmm-Hmm" Magda smiled back. Angela couldn't help but notice that her hand had crept up to stroke his fingers gently, "She's a real little firecracker. I love her already"

"So you gonna have your own kids or just pick up strays?" Lorna asked Angela, squirmed as her older sister pinched her arm and gave her a horrified look, "What?! You were all thinking it!"

Angela laughed it off, proudly watched her husband and their ward playing joyfully in the grounds, happy to be with them all and happier still to see Flick so well accepted.

"One day, maybe," she said, "But strays are enough for now"

"I always thought I'd have to handle another speedster one day" Magda sighed. "At least she has Peter to help her"

 _And at least Peter has all of us_ , Lorna thought, smiled and slipped her arm around her sister in law to watch the competition between her beloved brother and the youngest, newest addition to the family with pride and love.

 **A/N : Yep, I'm the King of Fluffy Endings aren't I...**


End file.
